Historical society gets inside look at Palatine police history

Commander outlines departmental landmarks

October 24, 2013|By Tracy Gruen, Special to the Tribune

The Palatine Historical Society heard about the past of the Palatine Police Department, a history that included famous crimes such as the Brown's Chicken massacre. The store is shown here on Jan. 10, 1993, two days after the killings. (Nancy Stone, Chicago Tribune)

Much has changed since the 1800s when the first two policemen were appointed in Palatine, with one of the officers responsible for serving as a pound master for sheep, pigs, horses and dogs.

Palatine police Cmdr. Mike Seebacher took about 50 community members back in time recently during a presentation about the history of the Palatine Police Department.

The Sept. 18 event was organized by the Palatine Historical Society, which invites various local representatives from the community to speak at their meetings on a wide range of topics.

"The response was overwhelmingly positive," said Seebacher of his presentation. "It was very well-attended."

Seebacher explained that the first police station in Palatine was a one-room jailhouse built in 1885, near the current location of the train station.

The police department was only a two-man operation and it stayed that way until the early 1940s, he said.

In 1929, the officers operated out of part of the first floor of Village Hall, which moved from Slade Street to South Brockway Street, he said. In 1964, the police department moved to behind Village Hall on Washington Street, Seebacher said.

In 1979, he said, it moved into the basement of the old Palatine High School building on Wood Street. The station is currently located at 595 N. Hicks Road.

Seebacher's presentation also included the history of the village's police chiefs, a breakdown of uniform changes and the history of police vehicles.

"It was very interesting, "said Palatine resident David Liu, who attended the event. "I didn't know anything about the history of the department."

Seebacher also talked about the Brown's Chicken Massacre, which took place on Jan. 8, 1993, at 168 W. Northwest Highway. That day, the two store owners and five employees were murdered.

One of the village's deadliest auto crashes occurred in 1935 at the Palatine Road railroad crossing, an accident in which a family of four was killed.

Terry Flynn, who grew up in Palatine, said he heard about the presentation from his brother-in-law, a Palatine police officer.

"I'm definitely pro-police, which not a lot of people are," Flynn said as he looked at a photograph on the wall of the Palatine police force in the 1970s. Nearby was an old uniform.

At the end of Seebacher's presentation, those interested were taken on a 45-minute behind-the-scenes tour of the police department, including visiting the shooting range, jail area and the fleet garage.

"One of the goals of the night was to help residents understand the history of the police department and how it has changed," Seebacher said.

Joe Petykowski, president of the Palatine Historical Society, said a lot of the people who attended the event have been residents for many years, and it was a great way to share the police department's history with them.